As Seen in Vanity Fair's August 2006 Issue!
As Seen in US News & World Report's September 11 Fifth Anniversary Issue!
As Seen in Time Magazine's September 11, 2006 Issue!
As Seen in Phoenix New Times' August 9, 2007 Issue!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Rick Siegel Files Suit Against Sofia Shafquat

Well, well, this one's been a long time coming, but it is a welcome development nonetheless that requires some explanation.

Rick Siegel filmed video of the collapses of the Twin Towers on 9-11 from across the Hudson in Hoboken, New Jersey. His footage is compelling and he had on his radio tuned to 1010 WINS (NY news radio station) at the same time to provide a soundtrack. The effect, quite plainly is a historical document of some significance.

Siegel's footage was used in the crackpot film 9-11 Eyewitness, apparently with permission and a rights' fee, although Siegel reportedly was not pleased with the final product. In late 2006, Sofia Shafquat released 9-11 Mysteries: Demolitions, which borrowed chunks of Siegel's footage apparently without permission or a rights' fee. Worse, Siegel discovered that Shaquat had edited his footage, erasing sounds and adding her own background noises (explosions, most egregiously) in places. And of course there was the ridiculous mistake that Sofia made where she shows the "South Tower record" (times of supposed explosions just before the collapse), and then says "Then the building fell," and she shows the North Tower collapse.

There was a flurry of activity in 2007, and Siegel bumped 9-11 Mysteries off Google Video and YouTube for awhile for copyright infringement, while John Albanese managed to push Siegel's website offline for awhile. The dustup even reached the MSM, with the NY Post covering some of the antics on both sides.

Siegel himself is something of an enigma; IIRC he claims not to be a Truther himself but at the same time, he provided websites for the no-planer contingent, at least one of which is still standing (although it's basically a ghost town, with the last post in May of 2008).

I hadn't heard anything about this story in a long time, and given that 9-11 Mysteries and Sofia have pretty much vanished into the mists, I didn't expect any new developments. But apparently Siegel has gone ahead with his lawsuit.